Ch. 186..190: Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad Chapter 186-190

Chapter 186

Jerome, Daniel, and I are all pretty much exhausted as we pull up to the bar the next day around noon, when it opens. Jerome and I stayed up pretty late explaining the details of the plan to Daniel, and then telling him what we need him to do next... ...and then a couple more hours patting his back when he hyperventilated, convincing him not to runs away from us screaming.

Because...yeah, it's a little crazy. But it's going to work!

"I can't believe this is how I'm spending my Saturday," Daniel murmurs as Jerome turns the car off in the nearly-empty parking lot of a very, very crappy bar. "You know that we could just go have brunch, right? Somewhere nice?" "I bet they can rustle up some brunch here," I say from the back seat, leaning forward to pat Daniel on the shoulder.

"At least some peanuts," Jerome adds, glancing at me and laughing a little.

"Seriously, why are we here?" Daniel asks, frowning at us. Because while we told him pretty much everything else....we kept this one a secret.

"It's a surprise, Danny," I say, opening the car door and hopping out, smoothing down my black dress as I smile towards the door. I'm actually excited for this one too. I haven't seen her in a long time, and I miss her.

Daniel sighs as he stands by my side and we wait for Jerome to come around the car. "I don't like this Danny thing, by the way," he says, frowning down at me.

"Yes, that's my nickname for him," Jerome says, grinning at me as we start for the door. "You can't get it on it now - it's very personal."

"I can do as I please," I say, flicking my hair back over my shoulder and lifting my chin. "I am a very powerful mafiosa, after all."

"That remains to be seen," Daniel murmurs, a little smirk on his face.

But as soon as he ducks into the bar, and sees who is standing by the counter?

That smirk falls away, completely replaced by shock.

"Hey, sugar," Fiona says, laughing as she comes out from behind the bar and walking over to Daniel with open arms. "I missed you too, kid."

"Oh my god," Daniel murmurs, wrapping Fiona tight against him and lowering his dark head to press against hers. "Oh my god - Fiona - I...I honestly thought you were dead -"

"Dead!?" she laughs, pulling away. "Honestly, he was mad at me, Daniel - and rightly, I betrayed him big time. But he likes me too much to kill me -"

"I didn't think he liked anyone too much to kill them," Daniel replies, staring down at Fiona in awe, "not even me -"

"Yeah well," she laughs, giving him a wink, "I did some really weird shit in bed. I earned some respect."

Daniel blushes scarlet as Fiona pats him on the cheek and gives Jerome a hug and a quick greeting before she turns her attention to me.

"Well well well, baby Fay," she says, wrinkling her nose and giving me a grin as she takes my hands and looks down at my stomach. "Looks like someone got you into some trouble."

And then, before I can respond, she steps forward and wraps me in a warm hug as well. "I missed you, little cousin," she murmurs in my ear. "I'm so glad you came. I've been worried about you."

"I've been worried about you too," I murmur, holding her close and closing my eyes. Fiona - she was so, so good to me, the entire time that we were in that house together. And while she, too, betrayed Kent...I just can't bring myself to be mad about it. Because she never betrayed me.

After a long moment Fiona pulls away from me. "Looks like Kent has been busy," she says, and I go a little pale as she looks down at my stomach with a wink. Anxious, my hands instantly go to my belly.

But then I scowl when she laughs at me, because I should have guessed that she would know immediately. I mean, she for sure knows that it wasn't Daniel.

"Oh, come on, Fay," she says, laughing again. "I saw how he looked at you the minute you came into that house. I wasn't even jealous! I couldn't compete," she shrugs, "didn't even want to." "So, you're not...mad?" I ask, hesitant.

"It's not like you stole my boyfriend, Fay," she says, patting my cheek. "Kent and I - we liked each other a lot, but it was more transactional than that. Nothing close to what I saw between you two."

"I can't believe you caught it before the rest of us," Daniel says, shaking his head. Jerome just smirks and I consider him, wondering how long he knew.

"It wasn't hard," Fiona replies, "if you were looking for it. But what the hell happened to that vasectomy I heard so much about?" she asks, frowning and looking down at my stomach again. "Was that a lie?" "No," I sigh, "it was real. It just...got patched up, or something."

"Wow," she says, her eyes going wide. "Sounds like I got out of there right in time!"

And then we're both laughing as she warps her arm around my waist and leads me over to the bar, Daniel coming along. Jerome, as planned, quietly steps aside and works his way around the room with a little device that's supposed to detect any places in which the room has been bugged.

I glare at the little device in his hands for a moment as Fiona works her way to the other side of the bar, wishing to hell I'd had that a couple of months ago to scan my bedroom. It would have saved us a hell of a lot of trouble.

"As much as I love a reunion for reunion's sake," Fiona says as Daniel helps me up onto a barstool, "I have a feeling that there's more going on here."

"Can't a cousin just come for a nice cup of tea?" I ask, coy.

"They can," Fiona says, leaning against the bar and studying me with narrowed eyes now. "But you're not here for that. You're different. No longer my little baby Fay...you're all grown up."

I smile at her, leaning forward and resting my chin in my upturned palms. "Maybe not all the way grown up. I still need my cousin's help."

"Really," she says, continuing to clean the glasses and raising an eyebrow at me. "With what?"

"Phone, please," Jerome says, putting his hand out to Fiona and nodding to me, letting me know that the room is clean.

"What?" she asks, a little appalled at the request.

"Just to take into the other room while you chat," Jerome says, giving her a warm smile. "Can't risk being recorded."

"Oh," Fiona says, looking between me and Daniel. "Oh, so this is a real talk."

She pulls her cell phone out of a purse sitting near her and puts it in Jerome's hand. He moves quickly away, carrying it to the next room. Fiona crosses her arms and looks between us. "Before you start," she says, raising a finger. "You should know that I still work for your dad, Fay. Anything that you don't want him to hear about...you should probably keep to yourself." "Is he good to you, Fiona?" I ask quietly, looking down at the bar and then up into her eyes.

She just frowns at me as Jerome comes back to my side.

"Because it looks to me," I continue, my voice soft, "that he asked you to take a very dangerous job informing on Kent for years, and then - when you were found out - he didn't compensate you very well for all of that labor. Or all of the information you provided." Fiona blushes a little, looking around the crappy bar which can't be paying her well and which is nowhere near the quality of living to which she became accustomed under Kent's care. "Well," she says, a little chagrined, "I was a shit spy, wasn't I? I got caught." "You weren't a shit spy," I say, shaking my head. "You worked for years doing that, and Kent never suspected for a single second. My dad just convinced you that you were bad at it because he doesn't feel like he needs to respect you."

"What are you doing, Fay," Fiona snaps, staring hard at me. "You are getting into some dangerous waters right now. And you might want to stop - because as much as I admit I don't really like your dad, and I think he's doing kind of a shit job making the right choices for this family? I am not ever going to betray this family."

"I'm not asking you to betray it," I say, leaning forward and holding her gaze. "I'm asking you to...consider a change in leadership."

"What," she scoffs, laughing at me as she starts to shake her head. "What, you want me to follow you now, baby Fay? After you've had, what, three months of experience? You want to take over the Alden family business?"

"No, Fiona," I say quietly, still holding her gaze seriously. "I want you to do that."

And her jaw falls nearly to the floor.

Fiona stares at me, and then Daniel, and then Jerome for a long, long moment before shutting her mouth, hard. "All right," she says hastily, looking around the room anxiously. "I'm listening. And that does not mean that I am in. But I am listening." And then Daniel, Jerome, Fiona and I talk for a long, long time.

By the time we're finished making our offer to Fiona, the bar has filled up a little bit with some of its regular clientele - neighborhood folks, mostly, but no one who's paying a great deal of attention to us. Fiona serves a couple of beers and then comes back shakes her head at me, a small smile on her lips. "I always knew you had the balls, little cousin," she says. "I just never knew if you'd find them or not."

"Yeah well," I say, shrugging and sipping on the Shirley Temple that Fiona made me, "one learns a certain set of skills at Kent's knee."

"Oh yeah?" she says, smirking. "Bent you over his knee, did you? He likes that."

"Enough!" Daniel almost shouts, cutting the air between us with a slice of his hand. "No more of that! Too much sharing of things I do not need to know!"

Fiona and I are still laughing, hard, when the old beige rotary phone next to her starts to ring. She makes a move to answer it but I grab her hand instead.

"Fiona," I say quietly, my heart in my eyes as she looks into my face. "I understand that you might say no. And that's okay. But if you do...could you please not totally f**k me over? Or tell anyone anything that's going to get me killed?"

Fiona clicks her tongue and takes my hand, squeezing it. "I promise you, cousin," she says quietly, holding my eyes. "If I decide to say no, then this conversation never happened. You're my baby Fay. I'll never hurt you."

Tears sting my eyes a little bit as I nod to her, smiling, grateful. Daniel puts a warm hand on my back, letting me know that he thinks we can trust her.

"But really, kid," she says, nodding towards the phone. "You want me to get this one."

"What?" I ask, confused, pulling my hand away and letting her reach for the phone.

"It's for you," Jerome says quietly, leaning forward from Daniel's other side. "I, um...I set it up. Because I thought you needed it."

 

Chapter 187

"What?" I ask again, baffled.

But my head snaps back to Fiona as I hear her answer the phone. "A caller from the prison? Sure, I'll accept." And then she gives me one of her trademark winks and holds out the phone to me. "It's for you." "W...what?" I say again, obviously at a loss for words as I stare first at my cousin, and then my husband, and then at my friend.

"Honestly, this is what I thought you were coming here for today, Fay," Fiona says with a laugh, holding the phone out to me. "I didn't know you were going to make me an offer I can't refuse on top of that." "It's all right, Fay," Jerome says, reaching out to take my hand and squeeze it. "As far as anyone in the prison knows, he's calling a bar where his ex works. No one knows it's you."

And I stare at the phone, realizing that Jerome's right. That...if I'm careful with what I say, and Kent isn't a complete idiot...there's no reason for anyone to think that it's me on the other end of this phone call. "Time's a-wasting, baby," Fiona says softly, holding the phone out to me. From the receiver, I can hear someone - quite faintly - saying "Hello?"

My hand is shaking as I reach out and take the beige receiver from her hand. As soon as I do, Fiona moves away. "Come on," she says, waving to Daniel and Jerome. "Let's give her a minute."

Daniel leans in to give me a kiss on the cheek, but then he's gone - across to the other side of the bar with Fiona and Jerome.

And then it's just me. With this phone in my hand.

Slowly, I raise it to my ear.

The first thing I hear is Kent heave a frustrated sigh. "God damn it," he mutters, "is this thing even working?"

"H-hello?"

There's a sharp intake of breath, and then I hear him hold it. And I can't help the little smile that comes to my lips -

Because, even if he's locked up in prison...there's always something satisfying about catching Kent off guard.

"Hey," he says, the word coming out on a huge, relieved exhale of breath.

"Hi," I reply, a smile widening as I press my eyes shut and let my head fall back, laughing a little at how unoriginal our conversation has been thus far.

"What's so funny," he murmurs, and I can feel the ease come into his voice, can almost see the way his shoulders must be loosening right now.

"You are," I reply, my heart and my stomach fluttering with joy as I try to concentrate on listening, on taking in every sound along the line of the phone - his words, his breath, even his very Kent-like silences. "We are. You'd think we'd have more to say."

"Oh, I've got plenty to say," he replies, a little growl in his voice. "Though I'd rather say it to your face." I laugh again, knowing that he means more than what these few words carry on their surface. Instead, they hold a whole world of meaning - letting me know that Kent's mad at me for doing whatever I'm doing, that it's causing him a great deal of anxiety as he sits there in his cell worrying about me. He'd much rather I just chilled out and grew a baby instead of hatching these insane plans.

"Yeah well," I reply, working hard to fight the growing tightness in my throat. "I'll take what I can get." Then my cool breaks a bit, and the words stumble out of me. "Um, Kent? Can you just...talk? For a long time? Read out the dictionary or something?" "What?" he replies, baffled. "Why?"

"Because," I murmur. "I just...I want to listen to you speak. I miss the sound of your voice."

"God damn it," he mutters, his voice choked, and - again - even though I can't see him, I know he's burying his face in his hand, overwhelmed and trying to pretend like he's not. "I'm sick of hearing my voice," he says. "I'd rather hear yours." "Selfish," I chide, making him laugh, and I almost groan when I hear it. I'd forgotten it, what it sounds like. And I hate myself for forgetting.

"Yeah well," he murmurs. "You've met me. You can't be surprised by that."

I'm quiet for a long moment.

"Are you there?" he asks.

"Do you remember the last thing you said to me?" I ask quietly.

It's his turn to be quiet now, but he comes back faster than I did. "I called you a liar." I can hear the shame in his voice, and it kills me to make him feel that way because I know our time is short. But...I need to know.

"Do you still think that?" I ask, hardly able to raise my voice above a whisper.

"No," he replies, immediately. "I - I'm sorry. I never should have..."

"It made sense for your first reaction to be doubt," I say, pressing my eyes shut and shaking my head. "But I didn't lie, Kent - I swear, I -"

"You don't have to swear to me, F-..." I can hear him press his lips shut as he avoids saying my name. And I take a sharp, deep breath, knowing we're on shaky ground. "I have no doubts," he finishes.

"Good," I murmur, and again I laugh just a little bit, because the word is pathetically inept in terms of encapsulating everything that I'm feeling right now.

"How is... it?" he asks, again hesitating, knowing that he can't say anything more obvious than that.

"It?" I say, sighing and rubbing a hand across my belly. "It...is a jerk."

He laughs again at that, a long peel of laughter that makes my heart clench almost painfully as I grin and shake my head.

"It won't always be like that," he sighs, and I can hear him smiling.

"Better not be," I murmur, "I'm sick all the time."

"And eating like a horse, I bet."

"Yup," I reply, losing track of my caution a little for a moment. My voice falls into a lower register now, deepening, softening. "You know food what it likes?"

"I do not," he replies, his own voice velvet, and I can feel us falling into our old rhythms. If I close my eyes and ignore everything but the sound of his voice, I can almost imagine being curled up next to him in the dark, my head on the soft place between his shoulder and his chest that I like best. "Tell me."

"You have to guess," I tease.

"No," he refuses, making me laugh again, because I almost missed - momentarily - how contrary and stubborn he can be.

"Do it!" I insist, wiping a stray tear away from my eye as I lose myself completely to the conversation.

"Bananas," he ventures, and, still laughing, I shake my head. But even though he can't see me, he can tell he was wrong. Maybe he, too, knows me well enough that he can imagine my gestures alongside my words, the sound of my breath. "Tiramisu," he tries.

"Ew," I reply, wrinkling my nose and feeling actual nausea build in my stomach at the thought.

"How can you say ew to tiramisu, it's delicious-"

"It is not," I counter, my face disgusted now. "Ugh - coffee and custard? Who came up with that? You're bad at this - maybe we shouldn't play -"

"Fine, fine," he sighs. "Because it's you, and you have the food preferences of a fourth grader...I'm going to guess pizza."

"Bingo," I say, my face breaking out into a huge grin. Kent laughs, victorious.

"At least it's Italian," he murmurs.

"Yeah, but it wants lots of ranch dressing on top -"

Kent groans. "Don't tell me these things - I don't need to know how you're bastardizing the national dish -"

"One Minute Left," says a mechanical voice, interrupting our conversation and making my eyes fly open.

"Oh," I say. "Um...I didn't realize it would be so short."

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, "I didn't have much phone time left this week. If I'd have known -"

"It's okay," I interrupt, sitting up suddenly and feeing frantic, not knowing...how to end this. "Um..."

"Promise me you're not doing anything stupid," Kent orders, his voice suddenly very serious.

"I can't," I whisper back, unwilling to lie to him. "But...I'm safe, okay? We all are."

He sighs, not saying anything, I think struggling with the fact that there's nothing he can do about it.

"Okay," he murmurs, finally. My breath ratchets up now and I wish I'd started counting after the mechanical voice gave us the time check - how many seconds are left?

"Hey," I say, all in a whispered rush, "I...I love you, all right?" My voice cracks as I say the words, my breath hitching in my chest.

There's a long beat before Kent replies.

"God damn it," he murmurs, his own voice strangled. "You were supposed to let me say that first. And in person, not over a damn phone -"

I burst into laughter at this. "Well, we don't have a lot of options now, do we?"

A beep comes on the phone. What does that mean?

"Times up," he murmurs, and I can almost feel him smiling.

"Well!?" I say, a little frantic.

"Don't worry," he says, serious. "I love you. Of course I do. And -"

But he can't finish his sentence. The line goes blank.

Time really is up.

I lower the phone to my lap and just stare at it for a long few moments, a stupid smile on my face.

Because Kent loves me.

I mean, I knew. I think I've known since that last night, since he climbed through the wardrobe and slept with me in my little bed.

But...hearing him say it? It's...absolutely everything to me.

And this plan?

God damn it, this plan is going to work - I'm going to make it work.

Because Kent's right - the next time I say that? It's going to be to his face.

 

Chapter 188

When I take a deep breath and look over at my family, I burst into laughter because they're all watching me with wide, anxious eyes.

So, I hang up the phone and walk over to them, shaking my head and wiping at the slight dampness beneath my eyes.

"Well, that looked suitably intense," Daniel murmurs, opening his arm to me and inviting me to come in for a good cuddle, which I accept.

"You could have told me," I murmur, wanting to sound angry but feeling far too happy for that. "Then I could have had something to say. We talked about...bananas..." "What!?" Daniel exclaims, laughing. Fiona and Jerome join in.

"I don't know!" I reply, breaking into laughter myself. "It all happened really fast!"

"Aww, poor baby," Fiona murmurs, leaning across the bar and smiling at me as she wipes a thumb across my cheek, getting the last of my tears away. "You've got it bad, don't you?" "She suuuure does," Jerome says, grinning at me. "I just hope Kent knows how lucky he is."

"Well," Fiona says with a sigh, looking around at us. "I have a feeling he's going to find out in a few short days."

Before I can ask her if what she says means what I think it means - that she's going to agree to my plan and help us - Fiona's face breaks into a big grin and she waves at someone at the door.

"I want you guys to meet someone," she says, leaning eagerly forward.

We all turn to see who it is and my mouth drops open a little bit as I take in the man who comes forward and eagerly reaches for my cousin across the bar, instantly claiming her mouth with his own for a good long kiss. "Um," I say quietly, glancing over at Daniel and Jerome. "Am I imagining things here or..."

"Nope..." Jerome says, his face just as shocked. "Fiona...clearly has a type."

Fiona laughs when she hears this, pulling her face away from the man but keeping a hand on his arm as they both turn towards us. "Yeah," she agrees, wrinkling her nose. "Kinda. Everyone, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Donnie." And then she introduces the rest of us around to Donnie, but none of us can peel our eyes off him, except to look back and forth between him and Daniel.

Because this guy? With his dark hair, and his diamond-cut jaw, and his broad, muscled shoulders?

He's a dead ringer for a Lippert.

"This," I murmur, catching Jerome's eye, "...could come in useful."

"Oh, I can think of many uses for this one," he murmurs, grinning up into Donnie's confused face and reaching out a hand. "Hi, I'm Jerome. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you -"

But Daniel just scowls and swats Jerome's hand away before Donnie can take it. "Enough of that," he growls, "we're out of here." Everyone but Daniel bursts into laughter at his obvious jealousy, except for Donnie, of course, who looks around at us in confusion. "What did I miss?" Donnie asks, but Fiona just pats him on the arm and tells him not to worry about it.

To my surprise, Daniel sits in the back of the car with me on the way home, letting me rest my head on his shoulder as I close my eyes. He pretends that he's sitting back here so he can hold a barf bag for me if I need to throw up, but we all know that he's just being

sweet.

Because frankly, I need him close right now, and he's intuited that. As much as I'd never give up the short minutes I spent talking to Kent today, it certainly took its toll on me emotionally.

I've been so good at being focused these past few weeks, at being strict and disciplined and keeping all of my anxieties neatly tucked away. But, as I feared it would, even a short conversation with Kent has me feeling vulnerable, and missing him terribly, and just wanting to crawl into a little ball of fear and grief.

"It'll be all right, kid," Daniel murmurs, kissing me on the head.

"I know," I sigh. "Just a few more days."

"Just a few more days," he confirms.

We continue to sit in silence until I feel the car make the final turns which I know signal our approach to the beach house. I open my eyes and then moan a little when I see Ivan's car in the driveway.

"Do you want me to tell him to go?" Daniel asks, maybe a little too eager. This is an unscheduled visit, after all - or at least I think it is. I didn't bring my phone with me today, so I don't know if Ivan texted me earlier to ask if he could stop by, which he usually does. "No," I sigh, sitting up straight and patting at my dress and hair and turning my face up to Daniel's. "I can do it. Do I have mascara all under my eyes? Do I look like I've been crying?"

"Nope," he says, taking my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turning it a little in the light of the setting sun to make sure he gets a good look. "You look beautiful, as always." And then he leans in and gives me a little peck on the lips.

I glare at him as he pulls away, knowing that he waited to do that until we were close enough for Ivan to see.

"What," Daniel says, glancing out the window as Jerome pulls our car into the driveway and we can both see an angry Ivan waiting there for us. "You're my wife! I can kiss you if I want."

I roll my eyes at him. "Don't mess with the plan, Daniel," I murmur, reaching for my door. "Your job is to be jealous, not infatuated."

"They go hand in hand," he says, opening his door and stepping out to give Ivan a too-warm welcome, clapping him on the shoulder before heading to the house at Jerome's side.

I watch them go as I walk over to where Ivan is waiting for me, unmoving. "Was I expecting you?" I ask, unable to keep the exhaustion out of my voice.

"Where were you today?" Ivan snaps, and I blink at him, actually surprised.

"Is it any of your business where I went today?" I ask, starting to get pissed.

"Answer the question, Fay," he replies, quick - more the police interrogator than the lovesick boy I've seen lately.

"I went to lunch," I say immediately, crossing my arms over my chest and looking Ivan up and down.

"Long ass lunch" he murmurs, leaning forward and studying me.

"Yeah," I say, nodding and not backing down. "It was. Now, why the hell do you care?"

"Because I was at the jail today," Ivan snaps, still watching my face for any reaction. And suddenly I realize precisely where this is going, and that I have to be very, very careful. God damn it, I knew a phone call was a bad idea. I'm going to kill Jerome.

"And," Ivan continues, "while I was there, Lippert took a very interesting call."

I sigh and then clench my jaw, letting him see my frustration. "What does this have to do with me, Ivan?"

"Were you on the phone with him? Did he call you?"

Good, I think to myself. He wasn't listening in. Because if he was, he would definitely know that I was, and then this would be a different conversation.

"No," I say again, shaking my head. "He didn't. Why? Did you think I was?"

Ivan grits his teeth now. "I've been interrogating Kent for a month, Fay," he says, "and the only time he gets worked up like that is when I bring up you. Now tell me the truth: were you talking to him today?"

"I wasn't," I say, and then I sigh, as if I'm over this whole thing. "But honestly, Ivan, why would it even be any of your business if I was?"

His eyes flare then and I realize with pleasure that it was the right thing to say. Because now we're not talking about me anymore: we're talking about us.

"Because, Fay," Ivan growls, wrapping his hand around my upper arm - not cruel, not hurting me, but possessive. "I care about you - and I have been caring about you this entire time while he has just been sitting in a jail cell spilling his guts to the state. I thought that that we - "

And then he snaps his mouth shut and looks away from me. I study him, feeling suddenly a little guilty about the sincere jealousy on his face. Because Ivan, I realize - not that I didn't know it before he really is trying. He wants this to work - he wants to be with

me.

And I am using him, brutally, to get what I want.

But damn it, he started it when he slipped that listening device into the jacket he gave me. Whatever happens next is his own damn fault.

"Hey," I say quietly, stepping closer to him and raising a hand to cup his cheek. "Ivan, I didn't talk to Kent today, all right?" I say, shaking my head and looking up into his pretty grey eyes. "You can always tell when I'm lying, right?"

It's a gamble, I know - because Ivan's internal lie detector is actually pretty good.

But it's a gamble I'm willing to take.

He studies me for a moment and then exhales a long breath. "Yeah," he replies, nodding a little bit. "All right, Fay. All right."

"Come inside," I murmur, taking another step closer so that my baby bump almost presses against his stomach. Almost - but not quite. "Let's get you something to eat, okay?"

"Okay," he says, though I can still see his mind whirling, probably wondering what got Kent so worked up if I wasn't me. Then Ivan reaches up and takes my hand from his cheek and holds it in his as we walk inside.

He's still holding my hand as we get to the top of the steps and enter the kitchen, where everyone is waiting and pretending to be busy.

As soon as we walk into the room, Daniel's eyes fasten immediately on Ivan's hand mine.

And I honestly can't tell if the anger and jealousy on his face is real or fake.

Chapter 189

I drop Ivan's hand and clear my throat, looking away as if there's a blush on my face. From the corner of my eye, Daniel glares hard at Ivan, his jaw clenched. Luckily, my dad steps in, as I hoped he would.

"Hey, Ivan," dad says, coming forward with a smile to clasp Ivan's hand. "You want some pizza? We've got plenty."

"No, thank you, sir," Ivan says, friendly. I cross to the fridge and grab a bottle of water before coming back to Ivan's side. "I'd hate to deprive Fay of any pizza; I know she's going to be up in the middle of the night wanting a slice."

"Considerate," I say, raising my eyebrows at him with a little smile before nodding towards the back deck. Ivan nods in agreement and, after some murmured hellos to everyone else in the house, he follows me out onto the back deck. We settle ourselves into two little deck chairs that are seated close together facing the ocean and I wrap a waiting throw blanket around my shoulders before turning to him.

He's charming, over the next hour or so, as he always is, but I force myself not to fall into the ease into which he usually lulls me. Instead, I keep my answers tensed and clipped - wanting the evening to be more awkward than our usual ones. I find that it's harder than I thought it would be, though - Ivan's a great conversationalist.

A lull falls between us after a moment and I stare out at the sea. I jump a little when I feel a hand gently touch my forearm.

"You're tense, Fay," Ivan murmurs, and I turn to look at his worried face. "Are you...anxious? About what's coming next?"

"I guess so," I say, shrugging and speaking a truth that I know he doesn't understand, because Ivan - I'm absolutely positive - suspects nothing of my plans. That much I've done well.

"Tell me," he says, letting his hand linger and softly starting to stroke my arm.

"It's just..." I say, hesitating, and then I sigh. "It's so final, Kent getting sentenced to twenty years in a few days, and then being sent off to the state penitentiary. I mean, we knew it was coming but..."

"Something about it?" Ivan prompts, being genuinely kind. "Feels different?"

"I guess so," I say, smiling a little. "Just...door slammed shut, you know. And...it kind of stinks that Daniel isn't going to be allowed to be there for the sentencing. This one's not public, you know? So," I shrug. "I hate to see him hurt like that."

"I know you do," Ivan murmurs, "you're a good person, Fay."

I laugh inside at this, but the laughter doesn't give me any real joy. I wish I was a better person than I am, or am going to become in a few days' time.

"Do you want me to come and tell you?" Ivan says softly, and I turn my head to the side, inviting him to say more. "What happens at the sentencing," he clarifies, and I blink as if in surprise.

"Will you be there?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.

He nods. "I've done a lot of the questioning. I'm actually one of the ones who signed the paperwork saying that his testimony has been satisfactory - so, I've got to be there, in case the judge has questions. If you'd like...I could come by afterwards, let you guys know, so that you too can ask questions."

"Ivan," I whisper, reaching out to place my own hand on his arm - the most intimately I've touched him in months. "That would be incredibly kind - and Daniel might feel complicated about it, but I know in the long run he would appreciate it. Would you?" "I will," Ivan promises, giving me a steady nod. "I'll come after it's done."

"Thank you," I murmur, leaning towards him.

Ivan leans forward too.

But then I hesitate, and bite my lip and turn away. I hear Ivan sigh, just the tiniest bit, but I don't look at him.

"It's late," I murmur, my voice almost embarrassed.

"Sure," Ivan says, understanding my request. He gets to his feet and helps me stand up too. He keeps my hands in his as he looks down into my face. "Goodnight, Fay," he says quietly, his heart in his eyes.

"I'll see you soon, Ivan," I whisper.

And then I stay outside in the darkness while Ivan makes his own way through the house and down the stairs. I stay out on the deck for a long time, looking out over the water, sorting through all of my thoughts and feelings. Janeen, at one point, opens the door and calls out to me, asking if there's anything that I need.

But I tell her that there's not, and she leaves me alone. They all leave me alone, and I'm grateful for it. I need it.

Because what's coming next? It's going to be chaos - and all I want right now is just...a few minutes of peace, all by myself.

I glance down at my stomach though, laying a hand on top of it. "Guess I'm not ever alone any more though, am I, little avocado?"

But the baby doesn't answer, which is perhaps answer enough.

The house is dark when I go inside. I go to bed alone.

I gasp awake a few hours later, my hands immediately going to my stomach.

"Oh my god," I whisper, my eyes already wide and unblinking as I stare down at myself - as if I'm going to see something, even though I know that's ridiculous -

But then it comes again - just a...a little tiny fluttering, low and deep inside me.

I squeal a little bit with excitement, but when I do the fluttering stops.

"Oh, sorry!" I whisper down towards my stomach, going very still. "Sorry, baby! I didn't - well, you're going to have to get used to those kinds of weird noises, I think - I make them all the time -" And then the fluttering comes again, and I give a little shriek of joy. Baby! The baby's moving!

Gasping with happiness, I leap out of my bed and dash out of my room without even really thinking about it, or where I'm going - and I head to the door closest to mine, throwing it open.

"Daniel!" I whisper-shriek, "Jerome!"

Jerome sleeping in his boxer briefs - starts up first, snapping awake and grabbing instinctually for his nightstand, throwing open the drawer and grabbing a -

Oh my god, a gun - as Daniel groans and sits up next to him -

"Jerome!" I gasp, stepping back in shock and fear. "Put that down!"

He isn't pointing it at me or anything - it's still mostly in the drawer, but I can still see the handle of it pressed tightly into his palm.

But as Jerome blearily focuses on me he groans and drops the gun, slamming the drawer shut. "God damn it, Fay," he mutters, leaning back on the pillow and covering his face with his hands. "Have you seriously learned nothing - do not burst into a mafia bedroom in the middle of the night -"

"What is happening," Daniel murmurs, still not getting it - still half asleep and half-dressed in his pajama pants with no shirt, his face pressed into his pillow -

"Jerome tried to shoot me," I say, grinning and jumping onto the bed now that my first shock is passed.

"What?" Daniel gasps, turning towards me. But when he sees my happy face, and that I'm exaggerating, he kicks at me and puts his head back down. "Go away. Or I'll let him."

"No!" I say, laughing eagerly. "You guys have to wake up! The baby moved! I want you to see if you can feel it!"

"What?" Jerome says, suddenly excited and pulling his hands from his face. "Seriously?" And then he's sitting, leaning forward, peering at my stomach at the dark. "What's it like?"

Daniel murmurs something grouchy but sits up too, rubbing his eyes and looking at me. "Is it okay? Does it...hurt?"

"No," I say, shaking my head and grinning, my hands on either side of my belly. "It doesn't hurt, it feels like...like butterflies - it's so cool!"

Jerome reaches out now, putting his hands on my belly next to mine. Then he nudges Daniel, who sighs and reaches out too.

"Okay wait a sec," I murmur, looking down at the six hands pressed against my stomach, wondering if the baby knows how excited everyone is to feel it move. But the baby - perhaps stubborn, like its dad - doesn't do anything.

"Is it happening?" Daniel murmurs. "Am I...am I not feeling it?"

"No," I sigh, slouching back with a pout. "It stopped."

"Bummer," Jerome sighs, and he takes his hands away.

"Maybe we can like...make it happen," Daniel murmurs, leaning close. "What were you doing, Fay? When it happened?"

"Nothing," I reply, shaking my head. "I was asleep. Well - I was dreaming." And then I blush as I realize that I was dreaming about Kent. About just talking to him about nothing.

When I look up at Jerome, I see him smirking at me, putting the pieces together. "Do you think it was your conversation this afternoon?" he asks. "That brought the baby out of its shell, made it start moving around? I mean, if you were hearing Kent...maybe the baby was too." "Does it work like that?" Daniel asks, confused.

"I don't think so," Jerome says with a shrug. "But, Princess Baby certainly felt what Fay was feeling during the phone call. It makes...a certain kind of sense."

"All right then," Daniel says, grinning at both of us before laying himself down on the bed, resting his head on my knee and peering closely at my belly. "Let's see if we can get Prince baby to come out of his shell again."

"He's not a hermit crab," I murmur, but I can't stop smiling.

"What are you going to do?" Jerome asks, curious.

"I'm going to talk to it," Daniel says, "like Kent."

And I burst out laughing, dying to see where this goes.

 

Chapter 190

"Now listen, baby," Daniel growls, pitching his voice a register lower - and I'm laughing already, because honestly it does sound so much like Kent that I can barely believe it. "I'm very disappointed in you - you need to be tougher -" Jerome bursts into laughter too and I smack Daniel on the shoulder, though I can't help my glee. "Kent would so not say that! Not to a baby!"

"I guarantee that's what he said to me!" Daniel protests, laughing too. "Seriously, that's dead on! Welcome to my childhood!"

"Oh, you're exaggerating," I murmur, rubbing a hand along my belly. "Don't listen to your uncle, baby - he's being mean."

"Okay okay," Daniel says, still laughing a little. "Let me try again." He clears his throat and takes a deep breath, and then starts speaking in his Kent voice again, which has me laughing from the very first word. "There is only one proper way to make a Sunday Gravy - and you have to start by sweating the onions for a long time -"

I'm still laughing, harder and harder as he goes, but suddenly I gasp because -

"Oh my god!" I almost shout, and Daniel and Jerome snap their faces up to mine. "It worked!" Instantly their hands are back on my belly, trying to feel for it -

"Keep going!" I say, urging Daniel on.

Laughing, Daniel brings his head an inch closer and - to my pleased surprise - starts speaking to the baby in Italian, his voice still low.

And the movement inside of me - it increases - a fluttering, and a bubbling, and every once in awhile a little tap tap.

And quite suddenly I'm crying, my hands on my cheeks as I stare down at my stomach.

"Can - can you feel anything?" I ask my friends between my tears.

"No," Jerome says, taking his hand away and smiling at me. "But we can tell you can, which is still really cool."

"I'm glad the baby knows its roots," Daniel says, grinning up at me, and I run my hand through his dark hair, smiling at his handsome face. "Little Italian baby knows what's important."

"Ugh," I sigh, pretending to be disappointed at this development. "It's going to be insufferable," I murmur, "like the rest of you. Always going on about different kinds of parmesan cheese and the appropriate ratio of pork to beef in a meatball -"

"What on earth is going on here?" I hear Janeen ask from the doorway, and all three of us turn to grin at her. "Honestly, Fay," she says with a sigh, "I've always hoped, for your own sake, that you'd find yourself in bed with two half-naked good-looking guys - but this," she sighs, "...disappoints, just a little."

"Come in!" I call, patting the bed. "The baby's moving!"

"What?" she gasps, and hurries into the room, her hands instantly going to my stomach. "Can I feel it?"

"I don't think so," I sigh, as disappointed as she is. "I think the baby's too small for that. But this is the first time I've felt it move!"

"That's so cool," Janeen murmurs, taking her hands away but still smiling at my stomach. "It's only going to get better and better from here." And I take my sister's hand, squeezing it, so grateful for her and pleased that she's as excited as I am.

But Janeen's face, when she looks up at me, is sad.

"What?" I ask, suddenly stricken to see her looking like that.

"Fay," she sighs, shaking her head. "You're almost halfway through this pregnancy and...I mean, I know that whatever you're going through is complicated but...what on earth is coming next? I mean...am I even going to be around when this baby is born?" And I hesitate because...well, it's a very real question.

I look down at the blankets on the bed, tracing my fingers across them, not knowing what to say. Because as much as I want - desperately - for Janeen to be there, to be a huge part of this baby's life?

In order to do that, she's going to have to make some big changes.

"I think it's time," Jerome says quietly, and I look up at him.

"You do?" I ask, quietly.

"It's now, or two days from now," he says, giving me a little shrug. "No time like..." he glances at the clock, "3 am for a nice long, difficult chat."

And I nod to him before looking back at my sister. "If you're ready," I say softly, seriously. "I'll tell you now...everything you need to know to make that decision. Because I have to make some big changes very soon - and you're very welcome to be part of them. But it's a big choice...and I'll understand if you say no."

"Okay," Janeen says, and then to my shock she stands up from the bed.

"What?" I ask, shocked. "Where where are you going?"

"To the kitchen," she says, calling over her shoulder. "Because if we're going to have this long, difficult chat, we're having cold pizza while we do it!"

"Ohhh, bring it in here!" I call, suddenly ravenous. The baby flutters within me too, making me grin.

"Not in the bed," Daniel groans, falling back against his pillow and covering his eyes with his hands. "Crumbs in the bed!"

"You've never sounded more like Kent in your life," I say to him, grinning as Janeen comes back into the room with three half-filled pizza boxes.

And then my sister flops down on the bed next to us, and I tell her everything.

Three days later, Ivan comes back to the house. I watch him from the front window in my dad's bedroom as he gets out of the car, my eyes taking in the blue suit he probably wore for court. Because today - this morning - Kent's sentence was passed. And Ivan's here to tell us what happened. To my surprise he looks up and sees me in the window, but his expression doesn't change. He just gives me a sad little shrug, letting me know that it's done, and I nod, letting him know that I accept it.

And then he starts for the front door, and I turn away from the window, heading back towards the main part of the house, my mind eagerly turning. Because if everything went through, and Kent's going to be transferred to the state penitentiary tomorrow... Then that means tomorrow is the big day.

And that I have a great deal of work to do.

When I come into the main part of the house, I see that Ivan is already in the kitchen, looking sympathetically around at my family, and especially at Daniel, for whom today is probably the hardest.

Ivan's eyes light on me, though, as I cross to the kitchen and he can't help the smile that pulls up at his lips. "Hi, Fay," he says as I come forward to give him a hug.

"Thanks for coming to tell us, Ivan," I say, my voice sad.

"It's no trouble," he replies.

"Well?" Daniel snaps as I step away from Ivan, and I turn to give him a pretend little glare. I'm not really mad, though - Daniel is acting precisely as I asked him to: angry, frustrated, and unwilling to tolerate Ivan's presence in his household after everything Ivan did to take his dad down. "What happened?"

"It went through as expected," Ivan says cooly, meeting Daniel's eyes and slipping his hands into his pockets, keeping himself even as he delivers the facts. "The state - at my recommendation as well as four other detectives - decided that Kent has given enough information to satisfy the requirements of the plea deal."

"And enough information," Daniel growls, "that if he ever steps foot outside of the prison, the families he ratted on will kill him instantly. If they don't arrange to do it in prison."

Ivan purses his lips a little and I see him clench his jaw. "I can't do anything about that, Daniel," he replies. "Your dad made his own choices about how to live his life. This is how the state has decided to respond."

"My dad," Daniel snaps, taking an aggressive step toward Ivan, but Jerome grabs his arm - like he's done before - speaking softly to him in what looks like an attempt to get Daniel to calm down.

Because right now? Daniel looks like he's about ten seconds from leaping forward and ripping Ivan's head from his shoulders.

And Ivan goes just as tense, looking like he'd like to let Daniel try, just so he'd have the chance to take another Lippert down.

I go cold when I see this on Ivan's face, but I do nothing.

Because this? This tension?

This is exactly what I want.